Research



Dan Cuzzone ('05) and Eric Bee ('05) hard at work in the research lab	Fall 2005 Research Group - Scott, Jeff, The Head Neuron, Todd, Jeff, and Katie



Beckett and Katie - HHMI Summer Scholars - 2006

Research Projects Currently Active

1. Identification of Neurochemical Causes of Nigrostriatal Cell Death
Oxidative stress, with the subsequent generation of oxygen free-radicals, is thought to play a role in the neurodegenerative processes observed in Parkinson's disease. The neuronal sources of these radicals and the endogenous anti-oxidant mechanisms present in brain to control oxidative stress have recently been the focus of intensive investigations. While it has been established that an environment conducive to oxidative stress (deficiencies in anti-oxidant mechanisms and increased levels of iron) exists in the substantia nigra of parkinsonian patients, a fundamental understanding of the chemical reactions responsible for the cell death associated with Parkinson's disease is lacking. The research conducted in my laboratory is designed to provide insight into these reactions. Currently experiments focus on identifying factors associated with susceptability to various neurotoxins. Ongoing projects regarding this research area include the manipulation of uric acid levels in the nigrostriatal system of guinea pigs (Church and Rappolt, Exp. Brain Res., 127 (1999) 147-150), the effect of anti-oxidant deficiencies on MPTP destruction of dopamine cells in guinea pigs, the role of NMDA receptor expression on dopamine cell death (using cell cultures). Techniques utilized in this research include HPLC, spectroscopy, immunochemistry, cell culture, uptake of radioactive isotopes, and histology.

2. Development of Analytical Methods to Monitor Dynamic Release of Biological Compounds into Culture Medium. This project address the very challenging analytical problem of monitoring the release of important chemicals from cell culture neurons into the culture medium in real time. Due to the small amount of analytes in the medium, capillary electrophoresis is currently the analytical method being investigated to quantify compounds such as arachidonic acid and glutamate.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS CO-AUTHORED WITH UNDERGRADUATES

Church, W.H. and Rappolt, G. Nigrostriatal Catecholamine Metabolism is Altered by Purine Enzyme Inhibition, Exp. Brain Res. (1999) 147-150.

McGovern,R.A. and Church W.H., The Role of N-methyl-D-aspartate Receptors in MPP⁺ Toxicity in Murine Cell Cultures, J. Behav. Neurosci. Res. 1 (2003), 13

Garritt, J.L. and Church W.H., Monomeric and Polymer β-cyclodextrins Impart Unique Serpation Effects When Used As Buffer Modifiers in Capillary Zone Electrophoresis, J. Undergrad. Chem. Res. 1 (2007), 41- 46.

underline denotes undergraduate author

OTHER RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Church, WH, Bronzino, JD, Kehoe, P and Hendriks, R, Monitoring amino acids in the hippocampus of awake behaving animals during LTP: Is it relevant to elucidating a mechanism for learning? In Monitoring Molecules in Neuroscience; Rollema, H., Abercrombie, E., Sulzer, D., Zackheim, J., Eds.; The State University of New Jersey: Newark, 1999

WH Church and SH Hewett, “The Relationship Between NMDA Receptor Expression and MPP⁺ Toxicity in Cultured Dopaminergic Cells”, J Neurosci Res 73 (2003) 811-817.

Church WH, Column Chromatography Analysis of Brain Tissue: An Advanced Laboratory Exercise for Neuroscience Majors, Journal of Undergraduate Neuroscience Education (JUNE), (2005) 3(2):A36-A41

Undergraduate Research Awards:
Jennifer Garritt (1999) - I.M. Kolthoff Undergraduate Enrichment Award - presented by the Analytical Division of the American Chemical Society - March 1999
Adam Orr ('00) - Society for Neuroscience Meeting Undergraduate Travel Award - presented by the Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience (FUN) - Oct. 1999
Lisa Bosy ('05) – Pfizer Global Research and Development and the Connecticut Business and Industry Association (CBIA)Undergraduate Research Fellowship

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Summer Research Scholars

2005 -

2006 - Beckett Gretten-Harrison (Neuroscience, '07), Katherine Rodgers (Neuroscience, '07)

2007 - Ariana Mullen (Neuroscience, '10)